Mission

Grow It Local is a grass roots, purpose-driven mission to get more people growing, sharing and eating locally grown foods.

PURPOSE

We aim to:

Make growing more accessible

Increase the production & consumption of locally grown foods

Provide a connection to nature

Inspire positive health & wellbeing

Help build stronger and more resilient communities

Increase composting and reduce organic waste to landfill

Do something delicious & have a little fun !

WHAT CAN I DO AT GROW IT LOCAL?

Put your patch on the map! Tell people a little about what you're growing. Find other growers near you and connect to share, knowledge, skills & more.

Join Grow It Local Marketplace.Keep building connections with growers, foodies and like-minded people and even make money doing what you love. This is our market place for knowledge and skills sharing. Sell or share produce & product, events, classes & workshops, space and more. The possibilities keep growing.

How long does it take to register my patch?

Registering your patch is a free and easy process that takes approximately 3-5minutes

Background

Grow It Local is brought to you by the folks behind Garage Sale Trail. The idea is simple. By mobilizing communities across Australia to host garage sales on one big weekend, we aim to encourage reuse, reduce waste to landfill, connect local communities, provide a platform for fundraising and inspire a little creativity and fun.

What started as a local idea in Bondi Beach has grown into a truly national movement supported by 400,000 Australian’s and powered by 149 Councils nationally. Each year the annual weekend-long Garage Sale Trail see’s 2+ million items listed for sale at over 18,000 garage sales across the nation.

We never cease to be inspired by the colourful garage sales and unexpected items that get registered each year from the first ever MONA garage sale, a miniature goat sale, the grandpa sale, the almost deceased estate garage sale and the Only Lionel Vinyl Sale.

Grow It Local was first brought to life in 2012. It was a ‘crowd farming’ initiative which generated lots of interest and was a lot of fun. At this time, our team included Jess Miller, Ben Peacock, Jordan Sly and the awesome folks at Sydney's Three Blue Ducks restaurant.

Local growers were invited to put their patch on the map and donate some home grown produce in each exchange to a crowd farmed growers feast at Three Blue Ducks in Bronte. The Ducks transformed the locally grown produce into a mind-blowing feast enjoyed by all.

The ‘crowd farming’ idea caught on and we were soon approached by Remo Guiffre of TEDx and food extraordinaire Jill Dupliex with an outrageous idea to crowd farm for 2,200 people at the Opera House. The results exceeded all expectations.

Since then we've been doing some serious growing. In 2019, we’re stoked to back and hope you’ll join us in our mission to help get more folks growing, sharing and eating locally grown food.

Welcome aboard Grow It Local !

People

Darryl Nichols (Co-founder)

A local to Sydney's Bondi Beach, Darryl is an advocate for the Lo-Fi lifestyle. Switch off, slow-down, grow something and enjoy food that's home-grown and home-made. It's easier than most people think.
As a co-founder of Australia's Garage Sale Trail, Darryl says Garage Sale Trail is about our stuff, while Grow It Local is about our food - but both are about community. Let's connect and grow together.

Andrew Valder (Co-founder)

"Give me the boy until seven and I’ll give you the man" or so the saying goes. Andrew’s first memories as a kid involve gently sticking purpley-brown bean seeds beneath the soil’s surface with siblings and parents at his family home in Sydney. Mandarin trees groaning with fruit, growing cobs of corn and a picking Tiny Tom tomatoes were as common place as playing handball in the back yard. Fast forward to now and edible gardening remains not only a way Andrew remains connected to the nature but also a way to teach his kids that food doesn't actually come from Woolworth or Coles! With Grow It Local, Andrew hopes to bring communities together and encourage a more sustainable way to live.

Ben Peacock (Co-founder)

Ben grew up vegetarian, so he knows a good vegetable when he sees one. Ben helps support the team on all things creative, as well as specialising in a mean gazpacho.

Costa (Ambassador)

“There is nothing more important than a community of growers. Grow It Local says let's come together and let's grow.”